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WWII vehicles might be buried in Louisiana
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 3:11 am
by Termite
The Associated Press
ALEXANDRIA — A conversation 34 years ago convinced Morton Hurston Jr. there is buried treasure in Central Louisiana, and he thinks he’s found it. One thing stands in the way of him finding out for sure: government permission.
Under the yellow clay soil of the Kisatchie National Forest, Hurston said he believes, is all manner of World War II equipment — tanks, halftrack vehicles, trucks, jeeps and even P-40 fighter planes packed in their original shipping crates.
Hurston, of Baton Rouge, calls this a virtual gold mine of a time capsule, a potential source of exhibits for museums and other military displays. The P-40s, packed in corrosion preventative, might be in mint condition.
“There are only six P-40s flying in the world,” he said. “This could be a very significant historic site.”
Hurston believes the equipment was buried in 1943 at Camp Claiborne, an Army facility north of Forest Hill in Rapides Parish used during World War II, mostly for basic training and artillery practice. Camp Claiborne closed in 1948 and, except for signs on La. 112, little of it remains today....
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Re: WWII vehicles might be buried in Louisiana
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 4:03 pm
by PawPaw
I drive through Claiborne ever weekend on my way to the wax-bullet range.
He may be right that stuff is buried out there, but the AF dropped a lot of ordnance there during the '50s and '60s. The AF still uses it for bombing practice. Generally inert bombs, but you still don't want to be out there when they're making runs.
Re: WWII vehicles might be buried in Louisiana
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 4:41 pm
by MarkD
Can someone explain to me why they'd have buried what I assume would have been usable equipment in 1943, while the war was still going on? I guess maybe the P40 was superceded by the P51, but tanks and half tracks?
Re: WWII vehicles might be buried in Louisiana
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 5:00 pm
by PawPaw
I've heard those rumors over the years, but the way I heard it was that they were buried after the war, circa 1947. At that time, the vehicles were outdated, about to be replaced with newer stock, and the powers-that-be didn't want them on the market, simply because the economy needed the boost of new production as we transitioned from a war economy to a peacetime economy.
Whatever, those rumors have been rumbling around here for years. I doubt their veracity, but it's interesting campfire talk.
Central Louisiana had a huge wartime presence, with Camp Claiborne, Camp Livingston, Esler Army Air Field, Camp Beauregard, England Army Air Field, and Camp Polk. Of that complex, only two survive to this day. Camp Beauregard is a National Guard Camp, and Fort Polk is home to the Joint Readiness Training Center.
Re: WWII vehicles might be buried in Louisiana
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:07 pm
by JustinR
If there are really P-40's in crates there, I'd drive over to help dig them up. That's really a big find.
Re: WWII vehicles might be buried in Louisiana
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 10:51 pm
by Termite
PawPaw wrote:Central Louisiana had a huge wartime presence, with Camp Claiborne, Camp Livingston, Esler Army Air Field, Camp Beauregard, England Army Air Field, and Camp Polk. Of that complex, only two survive to this day. Camp Beauregard is a National Guard Camp, and Fort Polk is home to the Joint Readiness Training Center.
Pollock Army Auxiliary Airfield also.
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Re: WWII vehicles might be buried in Louisiana
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 11:36 pm
by Aesop
It sounds like campfire ghost stories.
Dig up an actual few crated P-40s capable of restoration and flying, and I'll send a check to help the build effort.
I'm betting what there actually was, was a lot of vehicles buried in a common trench, and rusting into hunks of orange goo for 70 years in the mud and sand.
The ones they didn't use for gunnery practice on tank ranges, or sell for cash to third world dictators and such.
Re: WWII vehicles might be buried in Louisiana
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 11:41 pm
by Steamforger
Camp Villere is still open?
Re: WWII vehicles might be buried in Louisiana
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 11:51 pm
by PawPaw
Steamforger wrote:Camp Villere is still open?
Yeah, I beleive that there is an NG recruiting office there. As is
Fort Humbug, a civil war fort that houses an NG Battalion. The unit I retired from was housed at Humbug.
Re: WWII vehicles might be buried in Louisiana
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 12:27 am
by randy
There is a similar ongoing search for 140 crated Spitfires allegedly buried in Burma at the end of WWII. Nothing of significance found so far.